1838 Gold Sovereign Victoria Young Head & Shield CoinThis was the first date of Victoria sovereign circulated, although we have seen something about the existence of an extremely rare 1837 pattern.There are two specimens of this sovereign in the Smithsonian Institution, and they are two of the coins which Smithson received from the British Government, and with which he endowed the Washington DC Institution which bears his name. According to the website, most of the coins shipped to the USA were promptly melted down and reminted into US coins, probably double eagles. This will go some way to explaining why this date is scarcer than its mintage figures would lead one to expect, however similar considerations probably apply to most early dated sovereigns, many will have been melted and recycled, leaving only a relatively small proportion of the original mintage.

Named after the English gold sovereign, last minted in 1604, the name was revived with the Great Recoinage of 1816. Minting these new sovereigns began in 1817. The gold content was fixed by the coin act of 1816 at 1320/5607 (0.235420) troy ounces 7.322381 g, nearly equivalent to 113 grains. This weight has remained almost constant to the present day — rounding at 10-6 g took place on its legal redefinition in the decimalised rather than fractional system of coin weights.